Don't be afraid, be clever.

It's exciting times in the mobile marketing arena. Much chatter, many reports, lots of enthusiasm. With so many new and exciting devices just released or about to be, who can blame us mobile evangelists.
I was designing when the web was born, I remember all the hype, I remember the early 14.4kb and 56kb modems.Remember how slow things were? It was quite painful, but many of us accepted it. I remember the challenges of creating a web page that was interesting and quick to download. I remember the introduction of Flash, and learning how to create a sexy animation that was under 20Kb. It took a lot of thought, but it was possible, especially with the help of guru's such as Hillman Curtis, they were great days. And yet, here we are back there again, just on a smaller stage. All the principles of the early web are here again. Concerns about speed, relevant content, making the content 'sticky'. The experiences of the early internet are now becoming priceless, in developing mobile content. We went through the pain before, and will go through it again. We mustn't be afraid, we just need to be clever.

SMS Pet Hate

Every now and then I respond to a call for action SMS shortcode. The other night I was watching the telly and an advert came on for the new Volvo XC60. I quite liked the advert and it was tied in with the call for action; text 'LOVE' to 84880. Something inside me said go on.... do it!.... see if you get something good this time, the other half of me was saying, dont bother, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I texted away. And yet again I was left frustrated and disappointed. All I got back for my effort was to do something else, ie fill out my details for a brochure. But I dont want a brochure, I want something exciting or rewarding to view on my mobile device ....aaargh. Even the web address they put at the end of the message wasnt a link that I could simply click. This is just such a wasted opportunity, no funky little animation, no offer to see a sexy new gadget in more detail, not even a poxy screensaver....but still I wont give up, where's that super hero mobile content outfit of mine....I have a job to do, oh dear, sorry I've just been watching the film Armagedon

Mobile survey by IBM

I read an interesting report today from IBM based on a survey that had been conducted for them by NetReflector of 600 people in USA, China and the UK in the third quarter of 2008.
It revealed that over 50% of consumers would substitute their Internet usage on a PC for a mobile device.
That’s extremely important when the survey went on to say that the world's population of mobile-phone users expected to increase to 5.8 billion people in 2013
Dr. Sungyoul Lee, Global Consulting Leader, Electronics Industry, IBM, said
"Worldwide adoption of the mobile phone as the preferred device for accessing the Internet is just around the corner," and “The time is now for companies to develop intuitive applications and services that allow people of all ages to effortlessly access and use the Internet while on the go”
In the survey 71 percent of respondents acknowledged that they expect to increase their usage of their mobile device.
While there is an overall consensus that the industry is doing its bit for mobile Web, more consumers desire greater affordability, awareness and better content and applications for the mobile Internet.

Interesting times, the full report can be found on the link.

User generated wallpapers/screensavers

I went along to the Adobe Mobile and Devices user group the other night, kindly hosted by Adobe at their Regent Place office. All the presentations were great. For me though, the most interesting was by Ugur Kaner an interesting and fast speaking Fin :-) He was demonstrating Pikkoo.com, a brilliant way for users to generate their own animated/static wallpapers and screensavers, and for them to be delivered in the correct format for their own device, whether it be a .swf file, animated gif, etc. 

The application can even be hosted on separate branded sites, opening up the opportunity for agencies to create branded templates, for users to go in and create their own design from the supplied assets. I hope I've got all this right!! but it really looks a cool and easy way to generate content for mobile. And thats a great idea. I hope they make loads of money :-) 

The Keypad is dead, long live the Keypad

Many years ago, I dreamed about mobile devices with touch screens, so it really was my dream come true to own an iPhone. 

However, I'm just as excited to see more companies introduce their own touch devices. The potential for mobile marketing is getting greater and greater with these stunning devices. I guess, though, it's not so much the touch side of things that makes them great; although it adds to the excitement of using them. But the UI's on both the HTC G1 and the Blackberry Storm  look really good. 

However the key to the browsing experience, is an unlimited data tariff, once the threat of a horrible data bill has been lifted, the users will happily browse and download content, and if the the user experience is great then so much the better. This has been proven with the data usage on the iPhone.

It's also great to see that the HTC and Blackberry have a few features that are better than the iPhone; the G1 has cut and paste for example, there are plenty more, but I'm not writing this to do product comparisons. 

I wonder how long it will be before these type of devices, come with a £20 per monthly tariff, including the normal voice and text bundle, but with unlimited data? I wonder if that could ever be profitable, maybe the operators will introduce ad funded data along the lines of Blyk to offset the cost.

Mobile Barcodes

Without wanting to seem to be harping on about the iPhone, I found an excellent free app from the App Store for reading mobile barcodes, created by 2D Sense. The reason it is so good is that it allows the iPhone to scan not one, but six types of barcode;

• QR Code
  
• ShotCode
  
• BlotCode
  
• VisualCodes
  
• Data Matrix
  
• Dandilion
  

I hadn't even heard of BlotCodes, or Dandilion. Perhaps thats why there is a problem with the barcodes taking off, too much fragmentation, however the iPhone app that allows all of them to be scan, clearly shows that there is an answer to the problem.

I'm not sure how big the app is (file size) maybe that would be a limiting factor for some phones, or maybe cost.

I've only tested the Shotcodes, my preferred barcode, and it works well.

I look forward to seeing more codes used in POS and advertising!

I love my iPhone!

Yes I really do love the iPhone, it's not perfect by a long way, but the thing I love about it most is that it has made the other manufacturers wake up and assess what a phone should be. 

I say phone, I rarely use that term now, I call it a device,...my mobile device. I'm happy to say that I am passionate about the mobile space and wholeheartedly agree with commentators that state it will be the next massive marketing channel. And yet there is so much more to come; Near Field Connection built into a mobile device (such as an oyster card) and 2D barcodes such as Shotcodes and QR codes, will soon make marketing to the public instantly interactive... I cant believe why this type of technology is taking so long to come through into the mainstream.

Adobe's Flashlite, is also brilliant. When I started creating content in Flashlite, there were only 1 or 2 handsets can could play the content (in the UK), and even then the player wasn't pre-loaded. Now, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have changed that, and now they have about 170 devices between them that can play the content, there are plenty other devices as well.

I wonder if this credit crunch will help the mobile space? Maybe marketers and agencies will have to look at more innovative and cost effective means to reach their target audience. I'm sure the mobile space is perfect for them.